The present invention relates to a new and distinct perennial variety of Vaccinium hybrid (Southern Highbush Blueberry), which has been given the variety denomination of ‘C00-09’. Its market class is that of a fruiting plant. ‘C00-09’ is intended for use as fresh fruit for shipping, customer pick and processing markets and as a home garden plant.
The new blueberry cultivar is a selection resulting from seedlings produced in a controlled breeding programme of Vaccinium at Gainesville, Fla., USA in 1998 from a cross of seed parent “F92-52” (unpatented) and pollen parent “F84-38” (unpatented). The new cultivar was discovered and selected as a single plant within a population of blueberry plants in 2000 in a commercial field plantation environment at Corindi Beach, New South Wales, Australia. Selection criteria was a combination of upright to bushy plant shape and strong plant growth vigor, evergreen foliage, lateness of flowering and fruiting, large fruit size, firm fruit suited to handling, attractive dark blue fruit color and small picking scar. The selection was subsequently evaluated for a number of years at the commercial farms at Corindi Beach, New South Wales, Australia.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar by cutting propagation since 2000 at Corindi Beach, New South Wales, Australia and has demonstrated that the new cultivar reproduces true to type with all of the characteristics, as herein described, firmly fixed and retained through successive generations of such asexual propagation.
The new variety has been primarily compared to the variety ‘Southern Belle’ (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 13,931). In Corindi Beach, New South Wales, Australia the plant growth habit of ‘C00-09’ is ‘upright to bushy’ whereas the plant growth habit of ‘Southern Belle’ is ‘upright’. The plant growth vigor of ‘C00-09’ is ‘strong’ whereas the plant growth vigor of ‘Southern Belle’ is ‘weak to medium’. The leaf length of ‘C00-09’ is ‘long’ (65-70 mm) whereas the leaf length of ‘Southern Belle’ is ‘medium to long’ (mean 57 mm). The leaf width of ‘C00-09’ is ‘broad’ (30-35 mm) whereas the leaf width of ‘Southern Belle’ is ‘medium’ (mean 28 mm). The fully developed leaf attitude of ‘C00-09’ is usually ‘horizontal’ whereas the fully developed leaf attitude of ‘Southern Belle’ is ‘acute’. The width of the corolla tube on a flower of ‘C00-09’ is ‘medium to broad’ (11-12 mm) whereas the width of the corolla tube on a flower of ‘Southern Belle’ is ‘narrow to medium’ (8-9 mm). The berry diameter of ‘C00-09’ is ‘large to very large’ (mean 24 mm) whereas the berry diameter of ‘Southern Belle’ is ‘large’ (mean 19 mm). The mean berry weight of ‘C00-09’ was found to be 5.0 grams whereas the mean berry weight of ‘Southern Belle’ was found to be 2.8 grams. The depth of the calyx basin on a berry of ‘C00-09’ is deep whereas the depth of the calyx basin on a berry of ‘Southern Belle’ is ‘medium’. The diameter of the calyx basin on a berry of ‘C00-09’ is ‘broad’ (mean 7.6 mm) whereas the diameter of the calyx basin on a berry of ‘Southern Belle’ is ‘medium’ (mean 4.9 mm). The sweetness of a berry of ‘C00-09’ is classified as ‘strong’ whereas the sweetness of a berry of ‘Southern Belle’ is classified as ‘weak’. The acidity of a berry of ‘C00-09’ is classified as ‘weak to medium’ whereas the acidity of a berry of ‘Southern Belle’ is classified as ‘weak’. This combination of fruiting attributes results in ‘C00-09’ being a more suitable variety for commercial and home garden use than ‘Southern Belle’.